Analysis of alka seltzer commercial from 1950 and alka seltzer commercial from 2010 - Essay Example

Moreover, the world of men in action and women indulging in feminine parties depicted in the 1950s version gives way to that of a woman in the office – a clear change that took place in the post-War Western world, but took time to get depicted in cultural products. The 1950s version begins with Speedy introducing the tablet as a significant factor that keeps the energetic life of USA, especially Washington DC intact. He starts singing the jingle about how Alka- Seltzer gives comfort to congressmen who are distracted from their work by headaches, and those fairy-like women in a fancy party who have the morning hangover.

Apart from the visuals related to these two major ideas, it’s mainly Speedy who walks along throughout the commercial, followed by boxes of Alka-Seltzer, awhile singing the jingle in the all-too familiar voice of Dick Beals. The 2010 version is much more brief and swift. Speedy is given voice in the new commercials by Debi Derryberry. The stop-motion puppetry effect of older times is recreated in the commercial by CGI effects. There’s an office secretary who is summoned by someone who says “clients are here”, soon after she sneezes into a paper napkin.

She makes a gesture of tiredness, but is enlivened by Speedy who appears in a clearer, colour version and sings the jingle about Alka-Seltzer. Soon afterwards, the secretary is all ready to meet the clients. Before she leaves her cabin, she just pretends to punch Speedy, and he walks back and keeps smiling. Alka-Seltzer commercials focus more on creating a cult-effect than talking about the properties of the product. The appearance of Speedy in all the commercials is an effort to tap on the immense popularity that the earlier versions of their commercials had on people from all walks of life.

There is even a pseudo-effect of a child’s presence in them, since Speedy is a midget figure with the voice of a child. The painstaking efforts to create his amicable appearance, even with the Alka-Seltzer tablets that form both his torso and hat, pay off well. The colour version of 2010 shows clearly that the hat carries the name Speedy and the torso is inscribed Alka-Seltzer. Moreover, there is more scope in the new commercial to make the features of speedy clearer. He has brown hair and eyebrows, large grey eyes and vivid expressions, complete with a baby smile.

In the black and white commercials, the details were not so clear, and it were the captivating visuals, the voice of speedy and the animation effects that held them together. The drastic reduction of time in the new commercials call for a demand to stick to one major idea and present it in the best way possible. The drastic change in man-woman relationships in the public sphere is made clear while analyzing the two commercials. While the earlier versions showed clearly that men belonged to the tough outer world and women had a fairy-tale existence indoors.

The recent version makes it clear that the woman has much more responsibilities than the household chores or appearing and acting good in parties. In continuation of the concept of a ‘super-mom’, the woman in the 2010 commercial manages to meet her responsibilities with a captivating smile. Speedy cures her of the brief period of inertia, by the magic tablet. Her worries fizzle out as the ‘plop, plop, fizz, fizz’ of the tablet in water. The 1950s commercial focuses more on the manliness of men and the femininity of